Each month, the 102nd Precinct Community Council holds their monthly open meeting at the the Moose Hall at 87-34 118th Street in Richmond Hill. Even if you don't know exactly where that building is -- you'd probably recognize it if you saw it. Here it is:
Moose Hall is directly across the street from the 102nd Precinct which, hopefully, you haven't had too many opportunities to visit. I was inside the building only once before -- one night many years ago when I fought the law and the law won :-) More about that another time . . .
People began gathering around 10 to 15 minutes early. And though there was some speculation that we would have a light turnout due to the finals of "American Idol" we actually ended up with around approximately 50 people.
Council President, Maria Thomson, opened the meeting with a status overview before going around the room to introduce some of the speakers, representatives of elected officials, etc. Many of them took a brief opportunity to address the attendees. One of those who was introduced was yours truly who explained what Project Woodhaven is all about before milking the audience for a little extra applause. Here is some video of the opening moments of the meeting:
See, this meeting gives you the opportunity to meet and greet people whose job is to help make our lives better. Hopefully, some of you may see this page and decide to come down one night -- it's a real friendly group and they are all very approachable. The next meeting will be on June 16th at 8:00 PM and everyone is invited to attend. Next Month's special guest is Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
After a number of people addressed the crowd, it was time for Captain Charles McEvoy of the 102nd to give a crime report for the prior month. Note: He also took time to give out the award for May's Cop of the Month, which we covered previously here.
Here is the first part of his report in which he proudly announces that, thus far in 2009, the 102nd Precinct is down approximately 21% in all major crime categories. And that's on top of some impressive numbers for 2008. He also spoke about the troubling trend of youth-on-youth crime, one big example of which is attacks on kids carrying Sidekicks. These are expensive phones -- around $400 dollars -- and once stolen, the thief only needs to change an inexpensive internal card and they have a new phone -- so it's an attractive target for thugs. He also reported on the nagging crime of tire theft and asked for all of our help -- these tires cannot be easily carried away. Most of these thefts occur at night -- if you see a van loitering around in the middle of the night, be aware that they may be looking to steal tires. In this portion of the report, he also speaks about the efforts to combat crime within the confines of Forest Park -- and the ongoing efforts to battle graffiti vandalism and, the newest rage, "scratchitti," where the offenders scratch their tags into glass, typically a bus stops. Here is Part One of Captain McEvoy's report:
In Part Two of his report, Captain McEvoy gives details about the awful accident in which a man from Ireland, riding his bicycle through America for charity, was struck and killed by a truck on Jamaica Avenue, near Lefferts Boulevard. From all accounts, this was simply a tragic accident, and the driver of the truck was not charged. Captain McEvoy thanks Officer McCoy of the 102nd for assisting the bicyclist's partner in this charity run, as well as the family members that came to New York to make arrangements. Captain McEvoy then took questions and listened to comments from the attendees which ranged from graffiti to home invasions, and ended up with a heartfelt expression of appreciation from someone who was helped out this month by the 102nd Precinct. Here's the video:
As mentioned before, the Cop of the Month Award was given out to Officer Doreen Nicotra. This is something that's done each month - and it's nice to see. Below right, an attendee asks the Captain some questions about local crime.
After the meeting, Captain McEvoy stands with 102nd Precinct Community Council Vice President Kabul Singh. And here's a friendly face -- Officer Fisher of the 102nd, who is a fixture at most Woodhaven events and meetings. Officer Fisher will be retiring in July of 2009. We'll be taking the opportunity to wish him well before then. After the meeting, the crowd mingled and spoke to one another. Again, this is a wonderful opportunity to meet those in the community that are trying to make a positive difference. And here is just a really nice story. The 102nd Community Council, along with the 102nd Precinct, have been raising funds to purchase CD Players, DVD Players, CDs and DVDs -- in honor of the memory of one of the 102nd Precinct's Officer's children, who lost a tough battle with cancer last year. During the last few months of his life, the child managed to deal with his troubles in part by listening to CDs and watching movies on DVD. The goal of this fundraiser was $1000, to buy material to donate to the hospital so that other ailing children could benefit. At each meeting, we got closer to our goal -- and on this night, over $200 in contributions were collected putting us within sight of our goal. And at the end of the meeting, Anna Ramphal, representing the members of the 102nd Community Council, presented Maria Thomson with a check of $250 to put us over the top. Here is the lovely Ms. Ramphal with Maria - thanks to all for their caring contributions!
And so, another meeting came to an end - and on this night, the law won again! C'mon, how can a rough con like me even bang his tin cup against the bars with all that wire mesh in the way?
Remember, folks, this is what happens when you fight the law!
Again, the next meeting will be on June 16th at 8:00 PM and everyone is invited to attend. Next Month's special guest is Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
If you have any comments, or would like to suggest other projects, drop us a line at info@projectwoodhaven.com or projectwoodhaven@aol.com.
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